


Even dead, I will protect you

by madasthesea



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, Tony is actually dead in this I'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 04:57:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madasthesea/pseuds/madasthesea
Summary: FAR FROM HOME SPOILERS“Tony knew every mistake you ever made, Peter. And I think he probably knew some of the ones you’d make after he was gone."A rewrite of the main fight scene.





	Even dead, I will protect you

**Author's Note:**

> I got home from FFH two hours ago, and this is legitimately how I thought this fight was going to go.
> 
> This will spoil like the whole movie for you, if you haven't seen it.
> 
> One of the only Endgame compliant fics I will ever write.

The drones flocked toward Beck, flanking him on each side. The illusion switched on, swirling green mist rolling off a sea of black.

“Come on, Peter Tingle,” Peter muttered, then made a face at May’s name for his sixth sense.

He braced himself, trying to feel the drones flying at him, firing, ready for bullets to rain down.

He couldn’t feel anything. His spider sense was failing him again.

“Why aren’t you attacking?” He heard Beck hiss.

Peter opened his eyes. The illusion flickered and died, leaving nothing but the view of London through the shattered windows.

There was a moment of stillness as Peter stared, his heart pounding behind his ribs, adrenaline making his senses work over time. He could hear the people still screaming below them, the sirens as emergency response converged on the scene. He could smell the dusty mildew of ancient rocks crumbled beneath Beck’s attack.

“Kill him! Edith!” Quentin snapped.

“I am not allowed to harm Peter Parker,” Edith said, her voice as level and mellow as ever.

“ _What?_ I am ordering you—”

“Under the Legacy Protocol, no harm is allowed to come to Peter Parker through the use of Stark Technology.”

Peter’s knees went weak, his eyes filling with tears. _Tony_.

“Override the protocol!” Beck yelled, a vein throbbing in his temple. “Turn the illusion back on!”

Instead of obeying, every bot turned toward Beck.

“Override denied. Anyone attempting to harm Peter Parker is considered an enemy. You are no longer allowed access.” At those words, the bots closed in, swarming Beck. Each one deployed a metal claw and grabbed at Quentin, seizing his clothes, his arms, his legs. One reached its spindly arm into his jacket and withdrew the sunglasses.

Peter numbly held out a hand as the drone flew towards him, scanning him quickly.

“Identity: Peter Parker.”

It dropped the glasses into Peter’s open palm. He tugged his mask off and slipped them on.

“Hello, Peter.”

“ _Edith_ ,” Peter gasped. He’d messed up so bad. So so bad. Worse than stowing away on the alien donut, at least a thousand times worse than splitting that ferry.

And Tony, somehow from beyond the grave, was still helping him clean up.

“What shall we do with Quentin Beck?” Edith asked.

Peter swallowed. “Take him down to the police. Stay with him until Fury arrives.”

“That’s a good idea, Peter,” Edith said, reminding Peter of Karen. He missed her. He hadn’t had time to download her into his new suit.

Peter watched the bots fly away, carrying Beck between them. Then he sat down hard.

“You didn’t shoot,” Peter whispered.

“You’ll have to speak up, Peter.”

Peter laughed, but it sounded like a sob. “You-you didn’t shoot me. Even though Beck told you to. And I’d... I’d given authorization to Beck.”

“Yes, Peter. My coding forbids me from hurting you.”

Tears slipped down Peter’s cheeks, the saltwater making the cuts on his face sting.

“ _Why_?” he hiccupped.

He’d betrayed Tony. He’d betrayed his trust, his legacy, his _purpose._ Tony had given him a gift and Peter had given it to the first person that showed him some affection. And not just any gift, one armed with all of Stark Industries’ secrets, all of the immense power that Tony had built up as a shield for the world once he was gone. He had once again put Tony’s weapons in the hands of bad people and then waltzed off to spend time with MJ.

He was even less worthy of the glasses now than he had been a few days ago.

Why would Edith save _him?_

“Because Tony built me,” Edith answered earnestly. Like that was all the explanation Peter needed. Like that was all the explanation she could give.

Tony built her. And Tony had spent every second from the moment he met Peter protecting him. The suit, the ferry, the training and lab time and ‘you gotta let go, Pete, I’m gonna catch you’ and inventing time travel for _him_. For Peter.

Even dead, he was Peter’s hero.

Peter choked on another small sob, then wiped at his face. He needed to pull himself together, go find his friends and Happy, make sure they were ok, talk to Fury and Hill, probably get his leg looked at cause it still hurt like the devil.

Carefully pulling off the sunglasses, Peter folded them up and tucked them into the protected pocket meant for his phone.

Peter let Happy pull him away from his group of friends, all shouting over each other and miming the fight for the increasingly unimpressed police officer they were talking to. Happy steered him by the elbow until they reached a quieter part of the street and then sat him on a cement planter.

“Talk to me, kid,” Happy muttered. Peter stuffed his hands in the pocket of the too large hoodie he’d borrowed from Ned, the equally large pair of sweatpants tied as tight as they would go around his hips.

“I got up to where Beck was,” Peter sighed. “And I broke the thing he was using to control them. But he had a back-up and he ordered the drones to attack.”

Peter took deep breaths, trying to stave off another break down in front of Happy, but it only worked so much. Tears filled his eyes, but didn’t fall.

“But they didn’t. They didn’t attack, Happy, they... Edith said they weren’t allowed to harm me. They grabbed Beck and gave me the glasses back and... that was it.”

Happy put a hand on his shoulder.

“Edith said it was the-the Legacy Protocol,” Peter added quietly.

“Come on, kid,” Happy said, trying to smile and failing. “You know Tony. He would have come back from the dead if you got taken out with his tech.”

Peter looked at his feet.

“I gave Beck the glasses, Happy. I don’t deserve to be Tony’s legacy. I don’t deserve anything he’s done for me.”

Happy sighed, leaning forward.

“Tony knew every mistake you ever made, Peter,” he said. “And I think he probably knew some of the ones you’d make after he was gone. You’re sixteen years old, kid. Tony could barely handle the pressure of being Iron Man when he was an adult who _chose_ to be Iron Man. And he’s been betrayed and lied to more than anyone. If he hadn’t thought there was even the slightest chance that you would give the glasses away, he wouldn’t have built that failsafe in there. Because at the end of the day, nothing was more important than keeping you safe.”

Peter sniffed and rubbed his sleeve across his face. Happy patted his shoulder again.

“They’re going to notice we’re missing in a second. You good?” Happy asked.

Peter nodded. He curled his fingers around the rims of the glasses: Tony’s glasses.

Tony’s gift to him. Not just the tech, not just the firepower. Not even the mantle of the leader of the Avengers.

Tony’s gift to him was his trust. His unwavering belief that Peter would make the right decision, that he would fix his mistakes.

He would become the world’s next Iron Man. And Tony would make sure he lived that long.

**Author's Note:**

> Did anyone else notice that none of the drones actively went after Peter until this scene? Or was that just me reading too much Irondad into it?


End file.
